MUS blocks and multiplication – ???

My ds is on this lesson as well, but is a bit older than yours (would’ve never attempted this at your ds age).  We used a different program (spiral) before MUS and at some point over a year ago, maybe 2, I realized that math had too much going on (order of operation took awhile to figure out) and he is easily overwhelmed.  The mastery approach works for him.  Not saying your ds is having any issues, of course. 

I have had a great time, even “a-ha” moments (like with other programs, I’m sure) with the blocks and double-digit multiplication (and I have never had issues before, all my facts are memorized!).  I use the blocks with him on almost every problem and then we work it out the “old school” way.  And, we talk about the what is really being multiplied, not just the digits but their place value.  I’ll have to do this for awhile with him, but that’s okay 🙂

I do love using the blocks for him to “see” the answer by just looking, not counting, and for him to “see” how much the sum really is even when the digits are on the low-end (1, 2, 3, etc.).

I’ll go look at the last lesson and try to remember what made the blocks so helpful.  Obviously it could be just my ds who needs the visual and full-on explanation, every time, and that’s why it works and we use them. Your ds could be just the opposite and they’re of no use.  I don’t really know about that.

HTH

Well, if anything, I think these are harder to understand than the mus ones.  Not to mention the lady on the second one doing my pet peeve of saying “lenth” and “with”    LOL

OK.  This is relatively OK, but you are going to run into one problem.  They aren’t set up in problem format.  The way MUS does it, you can see its relationship to the written problem much, much easier.  IN fact, when you get to division, you are going to need to be able to do the blocks, deconstructing the blocks into problem format as you go as a check of the problem.   I really think it’ll be easier to see the transition if you set the blocks up the “MUS block way” so that when you are doing this in division, you can check your problems as you go.  ALSO, I think this method makes algebraic factoring MUCH EASIER and more visible.  It won’t be all that long before you are needing to do “3x + 6”  times “2x+4”.  The point here is that ALL multiplication problems make a rectangle, and you can figure out the area of the rectangle by the factors/sides, and this is true even if there is a variable, and you can also figure out one factor given the area and another factor.  Our written problems really are just an abstract way of showing what is really happening–WHICH IS A RECTANGLE.  The rectangle is the real thing, the way we write the problem and answer is NOT–it’s just abstract symbols representing the real thing–which is the rectangle.  

I think what Bookworm mentioned is what I was able to show my ds who struggles with the abstract number problems and now he can “see” that there is much more going on.  The rectangle is what I noticed when my ds and I were working on this…and when he was trying to do something completely wrong, it is was easier for me to show him how it just wasn’t going to work.  He wasn’t “showing” 12, 10 times (or vice versa, if you turn the rectangle). He was grabbing a 10 bar and a 10 bar + 2 bar.  Okay, well we have the factors, but that is not showing what the written numbers represent.  I told him I need to see 12, 10 times.  That forced him to keep building 12’s until he had ten of them.  Now at first he didn’t think to use a 100 block, so it wasn’t as easy to “see” the answer, but we discussed how if you have 10 ten bars you really have 100, so you can substitute the 10, 10’s for a 100 bar.  He did that and saw very quickly what the answer was.  We still did the work on multiplying it out and we did come up with the same answer.  I just really have to show him how much/many we are really dealing with and not just the abstract of the digits shown. 

Hope that makes sense. I am not a math-y person, but I understood these concepts that my ds struggles with at a much earlier age, so it’s difficult for me that he doesn’t get it.  My dh was the same way in elementary/high school and he was not given the opportunity to learn using manipulatives or any other kind of help.  He was left to flounder and had behaviorial issues because of it.  I don’t want my ds in the same perdicament, so I’m really trying to help him.

Well, after looking at the lesson in the teacher’s guide, again, I think I see that he is showing is that all the factors have to be accounted for.  I’m going to have re-look at this myself so that I don’t confuse my already confused ds and make sure I am understanding why certain blocks are in certain places (I know it’s for place value purposes, but we don’t really think about that being the reason when we are paying our bills, LOL).  MUS is teaching this concept a bit differently than I learned, I think, but I’m sure it is to a benefit. I think this is where place value is going to be so important for my ds. 

This is very interesting to me and I’m glad you brought it up.